1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a rack for storing a variety of beverage containers in a refrigerator.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In a typical household, it is often necessary to refrigerate, in addition to a host of food items, a variety of beverages simultaneously. Of course, it is desirable to organize the beverages in order to minimize the required storage space and to enhance the accessibility of the beverages. For this purpose, it is known to employ a rack in a refrigerator in order to house beverages. A rack constructed in accordance with the known prior art is generally configured for use with a single, particularly shaped type of beverage container. For instance, it is common to employ a rack which is adapted to hold a series of 12 ounce cylindrical soft drink cans in a refrigerator, with the cans being automatically fed to a dispensing end of the rack. It is also known to employ a rack to support one or more wine bottles, as well as a rack to support other bottled beverages.
Regardless of the existence of these prior art arrangements, given that beverages are commonly stored in containers which can greatly vary in shape and size, the known racks are not considered to be very versatile. That is, conventional refrigerator racks are typically designed for use in supporting only one type of beverage container. Although there exists racks which are actually configured to support two different types of beverage containers, there still exists a need in the art for a multi-functional beverage rack which can be used to support a wider range of conventional beverage containers.